A Missing Piece
by Miss Justice
Summary: Veronica is a girl that would seem like she has it all together. She has a boyfriend named Troy that a lot of the girls at Freedom High School have a crush on. But underneath it all, something is missing. A piece of the puzzle needs to be found.
1. Frustration

A Missing Piece

By Miss Justice

Chapter 1 "Frustration"

Today was a typical day for Veronica Sanders. Sitting in Mrs. Amador's classroom, Veronica and her classmates were putting puzzles together as they did every Monday. As she normally did on Monday mornings, she was unable to remember the previous night. She remembered going to her boyfriend Troy Fisher's house and that was about it.

As Veronica was putting the puzzle together, her mind drifted away to Troy. She could see his perfect, tanned skin, so clear and without a single pimple. She could picture his sparkling, blue eyes, the color of the ocean, so enchanting. She could imagine his radiant, shining hair, a flawless, dark-brown color. Just the thought of him made her smile.

However, it seemed like something was missing. She always wondered what life was about and quite often, as no answer came to her, suicidal thoughts would come instead. A piece of her heart was missing, just as a piece of the puzzle she was working on was missing.

Veronica was frustrated since the last piece of the puzzle seemed to be nowhere in sight. She looked in her lap, under her chair, and under the table, but the piece was nowhere to be found. She stopped for a moment to clam down, but it was no use. With a yell of "Why does this always happen to me?" she stormed out of the classroom.


	2. Feeling Sick

Chapter 2 "Feeling Sick"

Troy Fisher was the star on both the Freedom High School's basketball and football teams. He was 6'5", very speedy, and very strong. He was starting shooting guard on the Fighters' varsity basketball team and starting quarterback on the Fighters' football team. Many thought he could turn pro in either sport because of his intelligence on the field or court, his good hands, and his strong arms and legs.

This Monday morning, among others, however, Troy sure did not feel very strong. He felt sick because of last night. He had invited his girlfriend Veronica to his house when his parents were at the movie theater. They had found plenty of alcohol in the refrigerator and they decided to drink some of it. Troy had awakened on the couch next morning feeling like he had to throw up. He knew he could not go to school feeling this way so he decided to tell his mom Nikki that he could not go. Troy knew, though, that he could not tell her how he truly felt because she did not know about last night. So he decided to fake having a cold.

Coughing and sniffing his nose, Troy said to his mom, "I don't think I can go to school today. I think I'm catching a cold."

With a sad look on her face, Nikki replied, "Aw, superstar, are you sure? I hope you aren't catching a cold; you'll have to miss your game tomorrow."

With a faked look of disappointment, Troy went to his room. He looked at his picture of Veronica, with her wavy, brown hair and beautiful, blue eyes and wondered how she was feeling today. With that thought, he crawled into bed and soon drifted off to sleep.

He dreamed of an apple tree with two apples. Both looked as if they would fall soon. After a while, one apple fell off the tree and cracked on its impact with the ground. Just as the other apple looked like it was going to fall, a man came to the tree, and picked the apple. With that, Troy awoke.


	3. Beginning To Change?

Chapter 3 "Beginning To Change?"

Meanwhile, Veronica was in the bathroom of Freedom High School crying. She looked in the mirror and saw her face, red, and covered with tears. Her mascara, that had looked so amazing to her earlier, was running down her cheek. Her thoughts went to Troy and she hoped he would not see her like this.

In this moment of though, one of her classmates Maria Cruz walked in. Veronica saw her and screamed, "What are you doing here?"

Maria remained calm and said, "Mrs. Amador sent me to look for you. The class was worried about you…"

Veronica interrupted, "Why would they worry about me? I'm nothing to them!"

"Whoa, Veronica! We all care about you. Plus, we found the puzzle piece. Jimmy Michel was sitting on it. We left the piece out for you to place it into the puzzle. Come on, come back to the classroom."

Veronica signed and said, "Fine, I'll come back."

Veronica and Maria had been quiet during their walk back to Mrs. Amador's classroom until Maria spoke up. "Hey Veronica, do you want to sit with Faith, Brianna, Christina, Desiree, Maddi, Ezperanza, and I at lunch today? We have a chair open at our table everyday." Maria said.

"I'm already going to sit with Troy's friends." Veronica replied.

"Oh okay, there's always room for you at our table. Just come and sit down if you ever feel like doing so." Maria said as she opened the door to Mrs. Amador's classroom.

Veronica sat down at the table with the puzzle once again. As she picked up the final puzzle piece, she thought about her life. She realized that she felt very lonely. Her empty relationships had her feeling as if she were stuck on a deserted island. The only people she felt even somewhat close to were Troy and his closest friends. As she placed the piece into the puzzle, she knew she had to search for her missing piece, for what was missing from her life.

Veronica saw the completed puzzle and she realized how much it reminded her of Maria. Maria had always seemed like a star shining in the night sky to her. Her brightness never seemed to dim. If it ever did, it was back so quickly that Veronica had not noticed it was gone.

Veronica though, "What is it that she has that I don't have? How can she be so complete and so peaceful?"

She thought about Maria's group of friends also. "Why are they always so happy and joyful too?" she almost said out loud.

As the bell rang, Veronica started having second thoughts about not sitting with Maria and her friends. At the time though, she had no intentions of sitting with them. She had to sit with Troy if he was even at school. She had not seen him this morning so she thought that he might not be at school.

As she walked out of the classroom Veronica thought, "What to do? What to do?"


	4. Dreams and PB&J

Chapter 4 "Dreams and PB&J"

When Troy awoke from his sleep, he sat up in bed and he started to contemplate the meaning of his dream. He wondered what or who the apples were symbolic of, if they were even symbols at all. He pondered the meaning of the man who picked the apple remaining on the tree.

Then he thought, "Maybe my dream meant nothing. Surely dreams can't mean anything, right? How could they? I must've just had apples on my mind this morning."

The thought of apples made Troy realize he had a ravenous hunger. He decided to make his way downstairs to the kitchen. Having no knowledge of cooking, he decided to make a simple peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Veronica came to his mind once again as he was making his sandwich. Troy's friend Brandon had always said that Troy and Veronica were like peanut butter and jelly. That is how well Brandon thought they went together. Troy often wondered whether he was the peanut butter or the jelly.

Troy ate his sandwich and randomly decided that he must be the peanut butter. Still feeling weak and tired, he went back to his room and slept.


	5. Knocking on the Door

Chapter 5 "Knocking on the Door"

After Veronica's dreadful morning, the day up until lunch had been uneventful. Chemistry with Mrs. Hayes had been dull like most days. Mr. Mason's business class almost put her to sleep. Sociology with Mr. Gates bored her also.

Veronica went to the lunchroom, hoping that lunch would actually be exciting for once, but it was not. A fish sandwich, grapes, fries, and a cookie just did not satisfy her cravings. She got her lunch, paid for it, and walked over to her usual table. She saw that Troy was gone, but she sat down anyway. Troy's friends were talking about their party Friday night.

Troy's friend Brandon Jacobs spoke up, "Who all are we going to invite? We have to invite only the coolest guys and the hottest chicks." He looked over at Maria's table and said, "We definitely can't invite those losers. They don't do anything fun and everyone thinks they are stupid."

Veronica looked at Maria and her friends and she saw them having a great time and being kind and loving to each other. Veronica thought to herself, "How can they be the losers? These people have got to be the real losers."

Veronica had been bothered too much by the group of guys she once considered friends so she yelled, "You guys are the real losers! Tell Troy I want nothing to do with him anymore! I'm done with all of you!"

Needing a table to sit at, Veronica remembered Maria's invitation. While being stared at because of what had just happened, Veronica sat down. Maria welcomed Veronica to the table saying, "I'm glad that you decided to join us. I'm pleased that you left those people because they aren't the type to hang out with at all."

Veronica replied, "Well, thanks." Then she remembered the question that had been on her mind earlier that morning. She asked, "Why is it that you guys are always so happy even when people like Brandon are calling you losers? It makes no sense at all to me. If someone hates me, my feelings are hurt, I cry, and I begin to hate them."

Faith Jones, one of the girls sitting at the table, said, "Before Maria answers this question, I'd like to say something. Love your neighbor as yourself. Love your enemies. Love those who hate you. If you don't like the fact that they hate you, then how do you think they feel about you hating them?"

Maria, agreeing, said, "You're right sister. And now to answer your question. We are how we are because we have a friend that is with us always. Before you say, 'If your friend is always with you, then where is he?', let me say it's because it is not possible to see our friend. But yet we know He is here."

Veronica was confused, "So you guys have an imaginary friend or something? Strange. I had one when I was little, but I didn't know 17-year-olds had them."

Brianna Rogers, who was also sitting at the table, laughed and said, "No, no, no, Veronica, we don't have an imaginary friend. Our friend is anything but imaginary. Do you want to know His name?"

Veronica was curious so she said, "Yeah, I guess I do."

Brianna replied, "I thought you would. And I am so delighted that I am able to have this talk with you. Our friend's lovely name is Jesus."

In an instant, Veronica felt different. She felt someone knocking on the door to her heart. The question was "Would she open her heart?"


	6. Invitation

Chapter 6 "Invitation"

Veronica had become more curious than ever. "Guys I don't know what's going on. I've got this really strange feeling coming over me. And it started when you said your friend's name. I don't understand. Who is this Jesus?" she said.

Maria replied, "You know what Veronica? All of us were going to come to my house after school today. We could answer this question and whatever others you may have then. Do you think it would be okay with your parents?"

Veronica signed and said, "Well, my parents don't care what I do. They often don't come home until after midnight. I can basically do whatever I want to do and since I want to do this, I accept your invite."

Maria responded by saying, "Aw, I feel sorry for you. I really do. I've got good news for you though. There's a Father that'll always be there for you and that's God. Not to change the subject, but do you need a ride? My mom could take you to my house after school."

Veronica said, "I guess I kind of do. I'll meet you at your locker after school."

With that, the bell that signaled the end of lunch rang. The girls said goodbye and headed toward their next class. Veronica still had Physical Education, Algebra, and Journalism left before school ended. In Physical Education, she played soccer and with each goal that snuck past her, she wondered how she could turn her game around. The algebra class consisted of solving quadratic equations while Veronica wondered how to solve the problems in her life. In Journalism, she wrote an article about a woman with a drug addiction and she was reminded of how similar her life is.

When the final bell rang, Veronica was relieved. The last three classes of the day had left her feeling down. As she walked to Maria's locker, she hoped that the meeting at Maria's house would make her feel better. She thought that maybe she could also be friends with Maria's friend Jesus.

Maria saw Veronica approach and she said, "Hey Veronica. I'm really looking forward to tonight. I hope you are too."

Veronica replied, "Actually I am. I've needed a true friend for a long time and I'm hoping that I'll find Him tonight."

Maria said, "I hope so too" as she motioned for Veronica to follow her.

The girls got outside and Maria spotted her mom Justina's car. Maria said to her mom, "I hope you don't mind, but I've got a guest today. Mom, meet Veronica."

Justina said, "I don't mind. Hello Veronica. You can get in."

The girls got into the car. They began talking about what they wanted to do for a living. Maria wanted to be a missionary and Veronica wanted to be a journalist. After just a few minutes, the car came to a stop in the Cruz's driveway. Veronica got out of the car, hoping she would find a new friend within the next few hours. Maria got out, wondering if she could finally reach her goal of leading someone to Christ.


	7. Answers

Chapter 7 "Answers"

Maria, knowing that the other girls would not be at her house for a few minutes, asked, "Veronica, do you want to play basketball until the rest of my friends show up?"

Veronica wanted to get right to business, but knowing that the other girls need to come first, she answered, "Sure, why not? I used to play basketball with Troy all of the time." The thought of Troy gave her mixed emotions. She felt anger toward him, but at the same time, she missed him and his smile. Avoiding the temptation to have feelings for Troy again, Veronica said, "But let's forget about him. He was a piece of garbage."

The two girls decided to play one-on-one until everyone showed up. Veronica started the game on an eight-zero run, but Maria, not giving up, made a comeback and won twenty-to-eighteen. By the time the game ended, all of the girls had shown up. Ready to chat, they went inside the house and up to Maria's bedroom.

One of the girls, Ezperanza Barea, who was from Mexico, was the first to speak, "¿Qué quieres saber?" she asked.

Having no idea what Ezperanza said, Veronica asked, "What did you just say? 'Ka keares sabre?' What does that mean?"

"'¿Qué quieres saber?' means 'What do you want to know?' Sorry, I guess I automatically think people speak Spanish since I am so used to it." Ezperanza replied.

"Well, maybe we should start with the question I had at lunch. Who is this Jesus? Why is He your friend?" Veronica said.

Faith said, "Wow, how do we answer this? He's my everything. Words cannot even describe what He is to me. How about we all try to answer this question as clearly as possible?"

The girls sat in a circle and began to answer this question in a clockwise order starting with Maria. They all answered the question, beginning with Maria.

Maria said, "He is my strength. I could nothing without Him."

Brianna, who was next, said, "He is beautiful and full of love just like the paintings I work on. He is more amazing than anything I could paint, though."

Christina Major, who was a shy, straight-A student at Freedom High School said, "He is my light. He shows me the way through the dark."

Desiree Macias, Freedom's star sprinter, said, "He is my lifeguard. He keeps me from drowning in my sin."

Maddi Williams, the star point guard on Freedom's basketball team, said, "He is the greatest friend one could ever have. I could have no other friends and I would still be perfectly fine just because I have Him."

Ezperanza said, "He is my reason for living. Without Him, my life would be pointless."

Faith, the only one who had not yet answered, said, "He is my hero. He died on the cross for me so that if I believe in Him, I will receive the unfathomable gift of eternal life. What greater hero can there be?"

Maria replied, "Amen. No hero can be greater. That would be impossible. Veronica, do you understand what we've been saying?"

Veronica answered, "Yeah, I think I do. But what's this whole 'dying on the cross' thing about? I understand everything else. This man sounds totally wonderful."

Desiree said, "Hmm… I don't think our words could be powerful enough. They won't truly give a clear picture of His crucifixion and His love. I think we should her The Passion of the Christ."

All of the girls agreed. Maria went downstairs to find her DVD of the movie and when she returned upstairs, she put movie in her DVD player.


	8. A Few Moments

Chapter 8 "A Few Moments"

For Veronica, it had been a strange last couple of days. She went from being at Troy's party and being with his friends to chatting with the very people Troy and his friends hated, Maria and her friends. She thought to herself, "How strange can life be? I've gone from one thing to the complete opposite in a matter of hours. What next?" With that, she prepared herself to watch the movie by sitting down on one of Maria's bean bags.

Nothing could have prepared her for the next couple of hours. Having never known the story of Jesus, she was completely surprised. During the movie, she had been fighting back tears, along with the other seven girls, but near the end, she could fight no longer. The tears overpowered her and soon she was bawling. Streams of tears flowed down her face while she watched the crucifixion scene. With the tears came a feeling of being weighed down by sin and wrongdoing. She began to long for a way to lose that weight. Her mind raced for the rest of the movie, but when it was over, she finally understood. She could not carry the burden any longer. She could only do one thing, ask Jesus to help her, for she could not go on alone.

Veronica spoke up, "Umm… Maria, can I leave the room for a few moments?"

Maria answered, "Yeah, you can go to the guest room two doors down."

"Okay, thanks." Veronica replied as she walked out of Maria's room.

Almost as if it were placed there beforehand for Veronica, a Bible was lying on the bed in the guest room. She had never read a Bible before and she was curious so she walked over to it and opened it to the page that contained a bookmark. She soon found herself reading the Gospel of John. With a desire for wisdom and understanding, she kept reading and reading. She was on chapter 10 when she heard calls of "Veronica?" She answered, "I'm in here!"

The girls ran in and Maria said, "Where have you been? You've been away for way longer than a few moments."

Veronica replied, "Oh, I'm sorry. See, when I came into this room, I found this Bible. I wanted to read it so I opened up to where I found a bookmark. I planned to only read a page or two, but after I did that, I still wasn't ready to quit."

Maria said, "That's not a problem. We were just wondering if you were okay. Also, my mom just made homemade pizza. Do you want some?"

Veronica said, "Well, my hunger for food is about as large as my hunger for knowledge, so yeah, I'll have some. Thanks."

With that, the girls headed downstairs to a table with a pepperoni pizza, a cheese pizza, and an Italian sausage pizza on it. Veronica thoroughly enjoyed the pizza since her parents never cooked for her. Usually at home, she had to eat Campbell's soup or Easy Mac, which became tiring after a while.

After supper, Veronica looked up at the clock at saw that it was almost 8:00. Knowing that she still had homework to do, Veronica said, "Guys, I don't really want to, but I need to go home. Tonight was truly amazing, but if I don't do my homework, school tomorrow will be horrible."

Justina Cruz, Maria's mom, said, "I'll take you home, sweetheart. Where do you live?"

"116 Cherry Street," Veronica replied.

On the way to Veronica's house, Justina invited Veronica to Bible Study. "All of Maria's friends are involved and it's usually a very good time," she said to encourage Veronica to come.

Veronica gladly accepted the invitation, knowing that this new path was the only way to go.


	9. Transformation

Chapter 9 "Tranformation"

Bible study had been the perfect start to Veronica's new life. It was the perfect opportunity to be with her friends and more importantly, to learn about the Lord. Veronica looked forward to Bible study every week. A week soon became too long for her to go without the Bible so while she was at the mall, she bought a Bible. She soon began to read the Bible every day and her time for studying for school decreased, but somehow her grades did not lower. In fact, they increased by a couple percent.

One day, while at Maria's house, Veronica heard some music coming from Maria's bedroom. Veronica thought that the music sounded good so she went into the room to check it out. The music was coming from Maria's alarm clock, which must have been accidentally switched to the wrong time since it went off at 5:00 P.M. This music was unlike any music Veronica had ever heard in her life. It was rap, which was what she liked to listen to, but she heard things like "Jesus" and "God" in the verses and chorus. She thought this music sounded good and she was curious to know what it was. She walked back to where Maria was sitting and asked, "What is that music playing in your room?"

Maria replied, "I'm not even sure what is in my CD player. Let's go check."

The girls walked into Maria's room and Maria said, "Oh, this is Lecrae. Do you like it?"

Veronica said, "I absolutely love it! I've never heard of Lecrae before."

Maria had an idea. "Hey, do you want to borrow a few of my Christian rap CDs? I don't need them all right now so you can have them for a week or so." she said.

Maria gave Veronica Real Talk by Lecrae, Moment of Truth by Da' T.R.U.T.H., The Thesis by Ambassador, and Rewind by Flame. When Veronica got back home, she listened to these CDs instead of studying for her algebra test. This was no problem as she still got an A anyway. She was glad too because this music was amazing to her. She fell in love with it as soon as she heard it.

Then Veronica did something she would have never imagined doing. Over the years, she had built a huge collection of CDs, including 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Jay-Z, and Nas. She had spent hundreds of dollars on these CDs. Most people would never throw away this much, but being on a new path, Veronica would. She took every CD she had, put them in a bag, and threw them in the garbage.

Now, with no music left except for Maria's CDs, which needed to be returned in the next days, Veronica decided that she needed to buy some CDs. Music had always been her addiction, even as a little kid. There was no way she would go without it.

Veronica had received over a hundred dollars for her birthday a few months back. Having nothing else to buy, she decided to spend all her money on music. She bought the four CDs she had borrowed from Maria, plus The Faith by Da' T.R.U.T.H., After the Music Stops by Lecrae, The Compilation Album by the 116 Clique, If They Only Know by Trip Lee, and Flame by Flame.

Her transformation was now complete. All visible traces of her past had been erased and replaced by studying the Bible and listening to Christian music only. She felt better than she ever had. She was ready and willing to do anything for the Lord. She had friends that she could talk about Jesus with. Every day was a time for her to thank the Lord for rescuing her.

One more thing had made her glad. Lecrae was coming to her city next month and all of her friends were going with her to see him perform. She could not wait for this exciting time.

That night, Veronica had a dream about Troy, which was strange because she had not spoken to him since the night before they broke up. In fact, Veronica had rarely seen him and when she did, he always looked tired and sick. In her dream, Troy was running. He seemed to be running from something, but this "thing" could not be seen. All of a sudden, a wall showed up in front of Troy, giving him no time to stop, and as he crashed into it, Veronica woke up.


	10. An End Leading to a Beginning?

Chapter 10 "An End Leading to a Beginning?"

The next month for Veronica passed in the same way the previous weeks had. She read the Bible, listened to Christian rap, prayed, went to Bible study, hung out with her friends, and grew in faith. Now it was time for the event she was looking forward to, Lecrae's concert. The girls decided to all find their own ways to the concert, but Veronica had no method of transportation. Because of this, she asked Maria if she could ride along with her and Maria said that this would be fine.

Maria came to Veronica's house the afternoon of the concert to pick up Veronica. When the two got into Maria's car, they put Lecrae's After the Music Stops into the CD player and began to talk.

Maria said, "I'm just so excited for tonight!"

Veronica replied, "Me too. It still amazes me what has happened these last couple of months. I am so thankful that the Lord sent you to rescue me and show me His love. I cannot imagine where I would be at this moment if it wasn't for meeting Him. I just love Him with my whole being. My mouth can hardly exclaim my true feelings. There are no words for how I feel."

"I know how you feel Maria. I haven't always been a Christian. I remember when I first became one. It was just so amazing. At that point, I knew I could no longer live for myself, but for God. And it has been such an incredible journey. Whatever happens next I'll accept and be at peace with, knowing that it's the Lord's will." Maria said.

"Yes, what an incredible journey," Veronica agreed. "If life as a Christian is this great on Earth at times, I can only imagine what life will be like with God forever in Heaven."

The girls drove on while talking about how their lives have changed since they put their faith in Jesus. They came to an intersection with a red light so the girls stopped of course. When the light turned green, they began accelerating forward. However, a car that had a red light went forward also. Maria saw the car coming and tried to swerve away from it, but she was unable to.

The car crashed into Maria's car and made a horrible crunching sound as the cars were totaled. Veronica was thrown from the car and as she was about to hit the ground, she saw a familiar face in the other car. It was Troy.


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue

**What was your inspiration for this story?**

Well, I think one day I decided that I should try to write a short story. I thought for a long time about it and suddenly my mind turned to the idea of puzzle pieces. In my head I saw a completed puzzle and I began to wonder, "What if a piece was missing?" To me, it was obvious what this missing piece would be so I went with this idea.

**Which character do you most relate to?**

There is no one character that I really relate to. Quite often I am like Veronica, wondering why I feel so down and empty. At other times, I am somewhat like Maria and her friends. I am always trying to share the Gospel with everyone, but of course, there are times when that just does not happen for whatever stupid reason I may have. I cannot really relate to Troy because I do not drink, party, or hang around with not very good friends. I would definitely like to say that I relate to Maria the most.

**Which character would you want to be?**

This question is easy, but difficult at the same time. I can narrow my choice down to a few people: Maria and her friends. I really hope to have a situation sometime where I meet a "Veronica" and I can introduce him or her to Jesus. I guess that I would like to be Maria the most since she was the person who invited Veronica to sit at her table at lunch. Each of the girls played a part in telling Veronica about Jesus so really any of them would be good.

**Did Maria, Veronica, and Troy survive?**

I purposely left this out of the story. I decided to leave this to my readers. The only thing that I felt was of importance in this was that Veronica had become a follower of Jesus before the car crash. The rest of the details you can make up yourself.

**Were you ever a "Veronica"? And did a "Maria" ever turn your life around?**

Well, I have been a Christian for my entire life. However, for thirteen years that meant going to church and then ignoring the Father the other six days of the week. In a way, I have had some "Marias" in my life. And you all know who you are. All I have to say is thank you for making me become serious about my faith. I am forever grateful.

**Are any of the characters based on someone you know?**

Believe it or not, the answer is no. I am sure that there are people in my school that are like some of the characters, but I do not know the people well enough to know for sure. My characters are not really based on anyone; they are completely made-up. I can, however, think of some people similar to my characters.

**What was the hardest part of writing this story?**

That would definitely be two things: time and ideas. With school going on, it was hard to find time to write and type this story. I had a very hard time coming up with ideas also. Sometimes I was too lazy, unfortunately, to even think about ideas too. Next time I write, I will need more motivation.

**Do you plan on writing another short story or perhaps, something longer?**

If I come up with an idea, then I certainly will write at least a short story. How long my writing will be depends completely on the idea. Of course, I will continue writing poems and freestyles still.

**What have you learned from this about writing?**

I learned a lot of things, but the most important thing is to proofread. I typed incorrect words, but since they were actual words, just not the right ones, spell check did not catch my mistakes. I posted the story like this before I reread it and fixed it and I am completely surprised that no one mentioned them because some were very obvious.

**How would you explain Troy's apple dream?**

The two apples represent Troy and Veronica. The apple that fell off the tree is Troy. The other apple is Veronica. When Veronica hit a low point, Maria came and told her about Jesus. Troy instead fell apart. The man picking the apple could then either symbolize Maria or Jesus.

**How did you come up with the characters' names?**

None of the names were chosen for a specific reason. I either chose names I like or names that popped into my head while I was writing.

**Veronica seemed like she changed her mind quickly and often. Are you like that at all?**

Oh yes, unfortunately I am. Ask me in the morning what my favorite song is and then ask me again at night and you will get two different answers. I probably change my mind on some things within a minute even.

**How would you answer Veronica's questions, "Who is this Jesus? Why is He your friend?"**

Wow, no matter how I answer this question, I will not be able to fully describe how I feel. How could I? He is truly my everything. He is my hope, my strength, my savior, my light, my love, my teacher, just my everything. He is my friend because He has never left me, nor will he ever leave me, unlike all of the "friends" I have had in the past.

**Why does Veronica live at 116 Cherry Street?**

I had to represent the 116 Clique on this one. Why Cherry Street? I do not know; I must have wanted cherries when I came up with that.

**Veronica threw away her old secular CDs and bought new Christian rap CDs. Who did you listen to in the past and who do you listen to now?**

I would say that I have been through four different stages of listening to music. As a little kid, I listened to oldies and classic rock since my dad did. Then, when I was in elementary school, I listened to NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, 98 Degrees, ATeens, etc. After a while, against my dad's wishes, I got into rap and R&B. I liked Tupac, Kanye West, Nas, Chris Brown, Boyz II Men, Trey Songz, Elliott Yamin, etc. I also liked a little bit of country (Keith Urban and Rascal Flatts), rock (Live and Creed), soul (Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, and Sam Cooke), and Gospel (Kirk Franklin). Now I only listen to Christian music. Christian rap is my favorite, but I will listen to any genre. My favorite artists are Lecrae, Trip Lee, Da' T.R.U.T.H., The Cross Movement, Phanatik, Flame, Ambassador, Kirk Franklin, Papa San, Antwaun Stanley, and Michael W. Smith.

**How would you explain Veronica's dream about Troy?**

Troy was running from sin, from alcohol, from partying, from pressure, from himself, etc. Troy crashing into the wall foreshadows his car crash.

**Why did you decide to write a short story since you consider yourself a poet?**

The answer is simple: I felt like I could be multi-talented so I decided to try to expand my talents into other areas of writing. Am I succeeding? I do not have a clue; that is all up to you, my readers, to decide.

**Maria wants to be a missionary and Veronica wants to be a journalist when they grow up. What do you want to be when you grow up?**

I am three years away from college and I do not know yet. I have many interests and talents, but I do not know what to do with them. I like writing, graphic design, photography, sports, and travel, among other things. My favorite school subjects are global studies, history, and Spanish, while my best are those three, plus math. And of course, I want to do some Kingdom work and make sure my plans fit the Lord's will. So what meets most or all of these things? I have no idea.


End file.
